Lessons!

For Christmas, we let the kids choose a "lesson" that they wanted to take this winter. Soph chose ice skating lessons which started the first week we got back. She has had such a great time learning this new trade. She informed us that she, of course, will be going to the Olympics and I needed to get her costume ready for her performance soon. Caleb and Els chose to take swimming lessons. I took them to their first class and they had a great time. They were smiling and splashing. I was so happy to see them settled into their classes of Penguins and Sharks. After class, however, we went into the locker room to get showered and dressed. It turned into a screaming, ugly mess. My children were so scared of the shower, then got soap in their eyes, then I ended up being the one gettting the shower. It was a wreck! So we left the locker room with our heads down and a determination in my heart. I called the rec center and asked if we could postpone our lessons for a few months so we could practice the shower part of our experience. Instead of swimming lessons, Caleb and Elsie have now enrolled in shower lessons! I hope it works. (Doesn't this face say it all?!)

Winter Fun

What a fun time to be in Provo. We've been keeping busy with three crazy kids and the crazy schedules of the WHOLE family. Nana Bean took some time off today to take the kids to their computer class. On the way home she asked if they wanted to go and get lunch or get a Lunchable at the store. They chose the fake meat with a little treat. Yet Nana Bean topped it off with a deliciously decorated chocolate doughnut. She got lots of chocolate kisses for this.

Since school was out we got to go to visit an old roommate of mine who lives close by. It was so nice to finally meet her little baby and play a little basketball/wrestling match for the boys. Thanks for such a nice day.

We also got out of school on Friday so Ryan took Soph to hit the slopes. It was her first time and she picked up on it pretty well. She said it felt a lot like Ice Skating, which is coming up in the ranks for her right now. The rope tow is free so it was nice on the wallets--just not too exciting for Ryan on the mountain.

She's a natural!
We also have had two special visitors come to visit us. I'm telling you that UT really is a hub of activity so I think you should all come out and visit too. Grandpa Sarge came to visit the kids and spend the night. He listened to the kids play the piano, played games, and read stories. It was so fun to have him here.
And last but not least, we got the little Texas Will Dawg to come and visit for some time in the snow. It was a special visit for these boys, who lived out on our little hill for two days. There was no stopping them--even the car parked at the bottom of the hill. That did stop me, several times.

Update

Oh, Idaho! Here is just a glimpse at the beauty and freezing cold that we got to enjoy over Christmas. A family friend invited us to go on a sleigh ride that was a highlight for all of the kids. Elsie had to be standing right up front to watch the horses in all of their glory. I, on the other hand, got to be one of the lucky ones to get pulled behind the sleigh in one of the sleds. This is me and my sister Ash taking our turns, she's the mummy on your left:).
We tried to get the kids to sing Christmas Carols to really get into the spirit but by the end the only singing was the howling of freezing children.

My sister got this really cool toy for her kids. It's a teeter-totter that spins and has those bouncy balls on the bottom of the seats so you never get an awful jolt when the other person jumps off. It provided hours of fun for the kids! We were all just wishing that we could find one for adults to enjoy. The kids would get spinning at mach speed, it was pretty great.


We had such a nice Christmas Vacation in ID! It was so great to see some of my family and to let the kids see cousins. We played in the snow, shared cold germs, watched movies, went on a sleigh ride, ate, etc. I could go on and on but must suffice with saying again that we had a really nice time. I must add too that we somehow breezed through a 31 car pile up on the freeway during one of our roadtrips. Now it's back to business--Ryan hasn't had any classes but somehow has over 50 pages of reading to do. Ah, back to the grind stone. Happy New Year, everyone.